


Blue Devil Love

by Shuffleway, Whiplash (Shuffleway)



Category: Duke Soccer, Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-05-31 18:08:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15125036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shuffleway/pseuds/Shuffleway, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shuffleway/pseuds/Whiplash
Summary: A man who just got out of the military, ends up going the college route at Duke University where he's just trying to focus on Lacrosse and his studies when out of nowhere comes across the girl of his dreams.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work of fiction based of facts. No real names were used in the process of creating this story. The University is real and love is real so enjoy.

It’s late August of 2019 and I’m standing in the middle some court yard on the Duke campus trying to figure out my left and right to properly register. I got out of the Marine Corps after 8 years of service just 8 months ago and in that time, I took the longest vacation I ever had in my life and it was well deserved but now I’m back in the real world and still don’t have a clue. The Duke administration seemed to find me up to par to their standards when I applied last winter and got accepted into the Sports Media program. I wanna meet the person who made that final decision and kiss them. Well maybe not kiss them but you get the idea. All I had in my hand was a map and a list of building and room numbers of places I needed to go. There were so many people going back and fourth making the traffic of humans look like a well oiled machine except for me. I was that old broken gear that couldn’t move so I decided to just start walking as I was utilizing my map. A couple steps into my lost journey and I bump shoulders with someone.  
Both of us immediately responded at the same time.

“Oof” 

As I got eyes on who I came across, I froze in place realizing I just ran into the girl of my dreams.  
A gal with a blue Duke jacket on that said Soccer on it with black sports pants, dirty blond hair and beautiful golden brown eyes staring back at you. 

“Sorry my bad” I said  
“O no worries my guy” the gal responded back  
“I didn’t mean to run into you, I got lost in this map of the campus” I said  
“You a freshmen?” She said  
“Sure am, just trying to find the right buildings to register in” I said  
“O ya it was crazy for me too my first time I came here, even as a senior I still get lost sometimes. Let me see if I can help. Ok so you’re pretty close to your first stop. Right now we’re in Central Campus and you have to go to Campus Drive towards the east end to get to Market’s and Management Studies. You’re a Marketing Major?” She said  
“No I just have to take Marketing 101 over there in order to get into the Sports Media program” I said  
“Ok sweet! Well I wish I could help you find your other courses but I’m actually late to soccer practice, I’ll see you around” She said  
“Ya, sure greatly appreciate” I said

As we both turned our separate ways, I totally forgot to ask her for her name so I turned right back around to find that she was gone in the crowd. Damn it.  
That whole day was chaotic trying to learn the ins and outs of the prestigious campus that everyone in the ACC has come to know and love. I somehow managed to find every course I was taking and properly registered at the right times. I would have gotten it done faster but I couldn’t get that gal out of my head. Who was she? All I knew was she was some senior who played soccer at Duke. It’s such a big University, I’ll probably never run into her again. 

Well summer vacation has come to an end and I once again have to say good bye to my family in Colorado. I make the journey in my 2011 Jeep Cherokee across country to Durham, North Carolina where it will be my home for the next several months. The drive takes about 3 days with the continous stops to the gas station for food, bathroom breaks and of course gas. After 2 motels that nobody as ever heard of, I finally make it into the city of medicine. I get settled into my new town house with a couple of my Lacrosse teammates that I was set up with through the university. They were juniors and seniors and were wondering how a freshmen didnt have to say in the dorms with the other freshmen. The town house is a good walk from campus but nothing too bad. The town of Durham is a little beat up but seems peaceful. After I get settled in, the other guys decide to put me under their wing and take me around town to look at places to eat. We walk around for about 20 minutes in the area of Chapel Hill and decide to make camp at a small simple Mexican restuarant called Azteca Grill. It's one of them small dining areas that's only local to the town which is what makes it so authentic. You take a look around and see other students of Duke grubbing and hanging out with their fellow peers. Some of the guys take a seat and myself and a roommate, Jack go up to order for the rest of us. We order some Fiesta Bowls that should do the trick. We stand to the side and wait. Jack is on his phone while I continue to check the place out. I turn around to see the status of the food and then turn around to find her, standing there ordering food. It's the girl from registation day. She orders her food, turns to me with a small surprised look on her face.

"O hey wuts up! We meet again." She says  
"I guess it's a smaller campus than I thought" I said  
"Ya especially Chapell Hill, this is pretty much where all the students go to hang" Saying with a smile on her face.  
"So did you find your courses alright?" She said  
"Ya I did, it was easier than I thought it would be but I managed thanks to the help of some gal earlier that morning" as I kind of winked  
"O must be some gal"  
"Ya she was pretty cool, but the thing is, I never got her name"  
"Well you can call her Ella, Ella Stevens"  
We reached in to shake hands  
"My name's Ryan Hastings, good to meet you Ella" As I gave a smile.  
"So you come here, often?" I asked?  
"Sometimes, the gals on the team take turns picking differnet spots and it was my turn today so I choose here"  
My food order comes to the edge of the counter. As I pick it up, I look over to Ella.

"The team? You play soccer right?"  
She's laughs "Ya you got it, I bet you couldn't tell with all the Blue Devil Soccer appearel on"  
"Haha ya lucky guess. Ok I'm ganna head back to my table, hopefully we keep bumping into each other" I said with a smile as I tried to play it cool.  
"Ok Ryan, I'll see you around" She said as she gave a small smile and looked back for her order.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan goes to a football game with his boys

Courses have begun and are in full effect here at Duke with Fall very present. All the students have returned from summer vacation with their very wanted tans and motivation for the new year. With Fall here, that means, fall sports are underway and besides trying to remember how many pages in your essay your professors have planted on you, you're more focused on the spirit de corps of the school. Which means, parties, football games and of course doing the most traditional thing a college student can do. Toss a frisbee in the courtyard with the boys.   
Within the last few weeks, I went back to Azteca Grill to see if I would run into Ella. No luck. I decided not to go back to look for her because I realized that that would be a little creepy. I just need to let things go with the flow and if I run into her, I run into her. I just can't seem to get her out of my head. I want to get to know her more. I missed the first two football games due to them being away games. So it's Saturday morning and I decide to go to the home game against Clemson with the boys. I follow along as I have never been into the stadium before and have no idea where I'm going. We end in the student section of course on the 50 about 15 rows up from the field. The whole Lacrosse team is together. Since it's fall, we don't hang out as much since we don't have any practices so whenever we can, we hang out as team. It helps build that comradery. I scooch on into the isle and notice that we've been logistically placed with a lot of the other school teams. Even the elite chess team. I hear they're no joke at the University. 

I don't believe it. There she is. My heart skips a beat. It's Ella Stevens with the rest of her soccer crew. Everybody is decked out in the Blue Devil all glory white and blue ready to cheer on our Nationally rated team. All eyes are focused on the game that's about to go down. Moments later, kick off happens and the game begins. First quarter passes with ease for Duke ending with a 13-7 lead against Clemson. Ella is right there but I can't talk to her because the stadium is so loud. I just have to wait until halftime I guess. After a few minutes and a commercial break, 2nd quarter begins. Clemson scores leading 14-13. Half the quarter passes and I decide to make my way over to Ella. I somehow manage to get right next to her. She doesn't even notice. She's too busy talking to her teammate and watchin the game. It's almost halftime but I make a move. I bump my shoulder into hers just soft enough to get her attention. She looks over. She has to speak up because it's so loud with spirit. 

"Hey Ryan! Good to see you my guy!" She says has she gives me a side hug. Best side hug ever.  
"Hey! I'm surprised I recognized you in the city of blue." Really in my head I was thinking how much she stood out from the crowd because she was so beautiful.   
"Hey well it's good to see you again"   
"Ya same, I'm just here with the boys. This is a first game ever and it's crazy."  
"Ya there's nothing like these games. Hey I know some those guys, are you on the Lacrosse team?"  
"Surprisingly I am, I tried out over the summer and the coach liked what he saw and asked me to join"  
"That's sick my dude, it's heard to make the team I hear and not a lot of freshmen make it"

The buzzer finally went off indicating halftime. That was 20 minutes that I was able to get to talk to Ella more. She joined me in heading to the concession stands where the rest of the stadium was at, so it took a minute to get some old melted cheesed nachos and some cokes. We decided to sit at a table right outside the stadium. I don't know how this happened, but she seemed comfortable enough with me to just go where I went. We sat at the table talking for a while about anything really. We barely ate those nachos. We had this really fast connection. I didn't want to go back to the game. The buzzer went off indicating that the 2nd half of the game had begun but neither of us moved. We just sat there talking. I loved listening to her and she knew I was really paying attention to what shehad to say. I tried to make her laugh here and there and when I did, wow she had the cutest laugh I have ever heard. It was music to my ears. 

"So Ryan, explain to me how you ended up in a townhouse as a freshmen with a bunch of juniors and seniors?"  
"Well, my background is a little different then the average freshmen. I served in the Marines for 8 years and decided to use my GI Bill to go to school full time. So the school said it was okay because of my military background"   
She looked at me in shock.  
"No way shut up, you did not serve in the Marines. 8 years? How old are you then?"  
"I'm 28. I got out in January, took most of the year off and came here" As I gave a light laugh.  
"28?! You don't look a day over 19!"  
"Ya I get that everyday of my life. I was blessed with good genes I guess"  
"Wow that's so cool, well thank you for your service"  
"ehh it's not a big deal. It was a great experience, I was glad to have been able to serve my country but I happy to be out and moving on to other things in my life"

She seemed pretty interested in my life in the military so I took sometime to explain to her the ins and outs. I didn't want to come out as conceived so I let her talk more about her story. I wanted to be real with Ella. She seemed like a very down to Earth human being. Time was irrelevant at this point. We obviously both lost interest in what was happening inside Wallace Wade Stadium. I just wanted to get to know her more. Like I said, time was irrelevant. We ended up nibbling at our small order of nachos and the next thing we noticed was that everyone was coming out of the Stadium after a Blue Devil 42-27 victory over the Tigers. We missed the whole second half which only felt like a couple of minutes but was really an hour and half.   
She saw her team walking out of the stadium in our direction which was her que to head on out with them. As she got up, I slowly grabbed her wrist to get her attention.

"When can I see you again? How will I get a hold of you if I wanna miss another football game?" As I smiled and winked.  
"Haha, here's my number and you can reach me there no worries" She said as she turned red and smiled  
"Alright but only if I don't wanna watch the game" As I was joking of course.

Ella replied with a small laugh and smile as she walked away with her teammates.   
It was later that day as some of the guys and I were just hanging out in the townhouse. Some of the boys were studying as some were in an epic Fortnite match, with the remainder doing various other tasks around the house. My phone beeped. It was Ella. 

TEXT: "Hey some of the girls are going to a party to celebrate the win, you in?"

As I read that text, Jack, Joey, and Matt also received texts from other people about the same party. It was going to be held near campus at a Frat house. We all agreed to head over later as a group to see what was up. As nightfall hit the quite city of Durham, we headed out a few blocks down to this frat house at a party hosted by the one and only Delta Sigma Iota. From the end of the street, you could hear the music jamming out and the sound of a good crowd. This is my first college party and I am 28. I wonder if it was going to be like any of the barracks bashes I use to have when I was in the Marines. We shall see. I walked up to the house to a strong smell of beer and food. It was just like how I imagined it would be. It's weird cause I'm a lot older than everyone here, yet I look like a freshmen so no one would ever know the difference. The sign on the house under the Latin letters said "Better Men, Better Lives." I assumed that was their logo for all things. This frat was founded on good Christian men so I wasn't expecting to find any rochy scenario occurring. As fast as lightning, the team split up and I found myself alone at the entrance looking around at the situation. Didn't see Ella yet but I was hoping to see her soon since she's the one who invited me. As I looked around and scouted the place out, I saw the traditional beer bong table action taking place, groups of circles of people mingling, some people dancing in the living room but what I liked about it the most was that the music was at that perfect volume where it was loud and exciting but quiet enough so you were able to hold a decent conversation with someone. I headed down the hall into the kitchen. Wow it was large kitchen with 3 fridges, a huge island and a massive dinner table. You got to feed the boys somehow. The island was covered in assortment of drinks to choose from with several punch bowls. I grabbed a mix drink and sipped away. I'm not the biggest socializer so I just walked around with that red solo cup in hand. I decided to adventure to the upstairs just out of curiosity. As I got up to the top, I noticed right away the difference in smell and sound. It was a lot quieter. I noticed there was a bonus room with a balcony. I stepped outside onto it to realize that there was a whole other half of the party in the backyard where the pool was at. Even better, the best part of the night was that Ella was sitting there in cute little denim shorts and a duke sweater taking pictures. She didn't even seem to notice I was there so I walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped.

"O! You scared me! Hey Ryan good to see you." As she laughed  
"Haha sorry, I thought you knew I was here. But hey, I found you. I thought I was stood up for a second"  
"O no, I would never do that to anyone. If I wasn't going to show up somewhere, I would tell them straight up, promise"  
"Very well, I'll take note for future reference. So you're a photographer?"  
"Mehhh kinda, I like doing it just for fun, it's another way to really view and capture the world you know? I know that's so cheesy but it's true"  
"O no I totally get it, I use to have a camera of my own a few years ago and I took photos of everything. Towards the end of my enlistment, I had a gopro so I could capture my job"  
"That's awesome, I have a small blog that no one really knows about and some of my better photos go on there"  
"I'm sure all of your photos are just amazing" I said trying to compliment her without really knowing if her photos were any good.  
"You haven't even seen my photos, how would you know?" As she gave a questionable look  
"Guilty, I might of found your Instagram and you've got some really cool stuff. Your style is so different from the average college girl. You don't only have you partying and those fake candid photos where you pretend you don't know the camera is there and have a fake laugh. You have real stuff and I love it"  
"You seemed to have looked at my profile intently"

I got a little red in the face as it was true

"Nahh I mostly skimmed through it" That was a lie  
I looked down at her coffee cup  
"So what are you drinking tonight?" I asked  
"O you know some of that good stuff called Tea" She said as we both laughed  
"What, you're not drinking tonight?"  
"Heck no my friend, it's prime time right now with soccer season in the works. Coach Church has us doing doubles each day, I can't afford to be drinking"  
"Doubles?" I asked in a confusion  
"Ya double practice sessions. One session from 5:30-8 in the morning and then the evening session from 4-7 and then weight training on Tuesdays and Thursdays and then matches on Thursdays and Sundays."  
"Very well. Well I guess I'll find out soon enough what the seasons like with the Lacrosse program here. First practice/team meeting is a in a few weeks. Granted I'll be the grand old man of the team but we'll see how it goes" I said with slight excitement.  
"I'm sure you'll do great Ryan. Just understand what the teams goals are and stick to them as a team. Age doesn't matter when you know you can push faster and better then some of the other guys if not all of them. As a freshmen, I was one of the leading scorers on the team and Coach Church saw the drive in me, so he gave me more playing time then some of the older gals" She said as she grabbed my shoulder. She looked at her fancy iWatch and noticed the time was running late.  
"O crap it's almost 11, that's crazy where did the time go. I have a match tomorrow and it's a pretty early one so I need to get some shut eye"  
"A Match? Against who?"  
"O it's a big one, against Syracuse. You should come if you want"  
"Ok sounds good, I'll see what I can do." I was at a point where I didn't want cover up how excited I was by trying to act cool around her. I need to act as real as I possible with Ella from this point on.   
"Actually, you know what? I'll definitely be there. What time?" We both got up from the chairs  
"Kick off is 1pm" She said with a smile 

We both head back downstairs to the rest of the party. Probably half of my group left and it looked like the other half wasn't planning on leaving anytime soon. Ella looked around for her friends. She couldn't seem to find anyone. I offered to walk her home. We left the party that was still in full effect. Other frats on the same street seem to have started their own festivities as well. We left the block of frat houses and ended up going towards East Campus where her house was. She was renting it with some of the other teammates. It was about a 15 minute walk. We almost made it back when we started to cross the street and this car came out no where at the speed of light. Ella was behind me so I walked backwards pushing her back onto the sidewalk as the car drove by and almost hit us. The car was gone as fast as it came. I didn't realize that when I pushed her back, I also grabbed onto to her hand. I looked down and she didn't seem to mind, in fact her hand was squeezing mine as well. Wow. Her hand was really soft. 

"Jeez, Ella are you good?"  
"Ya thanks Ryan that was crazy. He was probably drunk too"  
As we kept on walking, we just naturally let go of each others hands. Two streets later, we ended up at her place.   
"Well Ella here we are, you have a goodnight and I'll see you tomorrow, if I don't get hit by any cars that is"  
"Not funny Ryan"  
"Haha ya bad joke sorry"  
"Night Ryan"   
"Bye Ella" 

She walked away with a smile on her face. Maybe I was doing something right. Maybe this could go somewhere. I haven't had any good relationships in the past 8 years but this could be different.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see, Ryan and Ella's relationship is growing. As of right now, they're just friends but is there possibly room for more?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan ends up going to his first soccer match at Duke University to watch Ella in her natural habitat.

Chapter 3  
*Beep* *Beep* *Beep* I wake up in my own bed and immediatly remember the night before. Not because of the party or the teammates or the amount of alcohol but because I got to spend some more quality time with Ella. I can't stop thinking about how she laughs or about her glowy brown eyes or how she smiles...o my her smile. It's around 1030 in the morning when I finally force myself out of bed after laying there scrolling through facebook and instagram. I stretch the best stretch I ever had and get ready for the day. It looks like a beautilful day and even a better one with the game around the corner. I'm so excited to go over to Koskinen Stadium and support Ella and the rest of the Women's Soccer Team. I take a shower, change into some Duke merch, eat a full brunch and chill out on the LARGE couch as I try to complete a paper on the difference spectrums of a membership to a subscriber of a company. I can't believe how large the couch is. I swear it can fill our house of people times three. 

As I'm almost done with the paper, I check the time to see that it's 1215. I put everything to the side and get ready to leave. As I'm walking out the door, out of nowhere it starts to rain. Perfect. I run back inside to get a breaker and head down the road straight to the campus where the soccer field is at. I don't care that it's raining, I promised Ella I would come to the match and I don't intend on breaking my promise. It's just a game but I take promises very seriously. I finally make it to the field, pay for a student ticket and walk into the stands. I notice my boy from the team, John sitting in the stands ready to go with a Sprite and some popcorn. 

"Yo my guy hey man! I didn't even notice you left the house, what brings you here?" I say

"Hey man, ya I'm a ninja. My girlfriend Remi #4 over there is on the team. We've been together for about 2 years. Met at one of the Sports galas. She's awesome. It's kind of shitty weather though. What brings you here?" As he says with a quizzical face.

"Elle Stevens # 17 invited me yesterday at that frat party."

"Oooo snap nice dude" As he lightly fist bumps my shoulder.

"Haha it's not like that. I think she's cool and we've only hung out a couple times." As I smile with a blushed face.

"Ya that's cool, sounds good. Glad you're here. Sometimes I'll end up sitting by myself and look funny. Not many people go to these games unless it's a playoff game. That's when the crowd gets drawn in. The crowd mostly consists of family, grandparents and some other student athletes".

The light rain continues as the match is about to begin. Both teams are lined up on the field with their right hand across their heart as the beautiful National Anthem is played on the loud speakers. Both teams are ready to play for 90 minutes. Before the whistle blows, I scream "GOOOOO ELLLLLAAA! NUMBER 17 RULES!!!" I get a couple of turned heads and Ella looks up to see me waving at her. She smiles and gives a small waving gesture back but instantly gets back into game mode. The players run into position and the match begins.  
This is my first collegiate soccer game in the ACC. I've been to a couple in the PAC-12 and a few professional ones from the MLS, NWSL and of course a few matches of our National Teams. There's a different atmosphere to the game. From the style of play to the attitude of the players. Even the crowd is different. You still have those "soccer moms" at the college level yelling at the refs and coaches telling them that they're making all the wrong calls. There's a much larger crowd here in the East Coast then there is in the West or even the BIG-10. Duke and Syracuse are battling it out for the ball as intensely as it could get. You would have never known that this was a normal season match with the way they were playing. The rain continued and started to fall harder as both teams were still tied 0-0, 25 minutes into the half. The only thing that could stop this game is if there was thunder. But there was thunder. I could see it in all of the players on the field. Even the girls on the sideline wanted to get a taste of that ball and a shot to give it a touch in the back of the net. 

I just met Ella but I couldn't have been more proud. She was the co captain of this beautiful team. She was leading them in the way she moved herself around the field trying to make plays workout, guiding her players with not just verbal commands but with her command presents. I could see she was where she was most comfortable and most strong. It's 37 minutes in and I see Ella running down the sideline with the ball from her half to the other half, with a Tiger player charging at her using the completely wet grass to conduct the most brutal slide tackle just knocking Ella off her feet and not touching the ball at all. Foul. She gets knocked down sliding into the mud. Ella is slowly getting up from the wet muddy field and I can tell she was in a little bit of pain but not enough to hinder her spirits to keep on pushing. 

Number 24 from the Blue Devils takes the ball to the sideline to throw it in as Ella pushes back closer to the center. The gal does a front flip to the throw the ball back into play. The ball projects some distance above a bunch of players into the 16 yard line where a Tiger defender is able to get footing on it. The ground is so wet and muddy that the ball gets stuck and the player falls on the ground trying to kick the ball. I see Ella as fast as lighting run into the ball kicking it as if it was a grenade about to blow up. Before the Syracuse keeper realized what happen, the ball found it's way in the back of the net where it was suppose to be. Goal for the Blue Devils. 

In the 38th minute, the Blue Devils have taken the lead with fierce dedication and fire in their eyes ready to keep the momentum going. The rain slowly dies down going into halftime with the clouds still dominating the sky. Both teams leave the field to get their 15 minute break and come up with new strategies going into the 2nd half. I however am wet from all the inclement weather but still very proud of Ella and the rest of the Blue Devils for fighting the good fight. I decide to get a monster energy drink from the concession stands. Towards the end of the half, you see both teams come back out onto the field but of course have switched sides. As they come out so does the sun. You see it glycinin through the clouds and onto the muddy field. It starts to get warmer. There she is, Ella Stevens.

"Let's go baby! Bring on the heat!" John says as he stands up with the rest of the crowd to cheer on the Blue Devils as they make their way back out. 

"Let's go Ella! You're the Goat!" I say as I want to sound supportive but want to play it cool.

Both teams find their positions as the 2nd half begins. Whistle blows. By this time. The sun is fully out and the clouds are evaporating. 47 minutes into the 2nd half and the field is still muddy but that doesn't stop either team from trying to earn the W. Fighting for the ball like there's no other match left in the season. The Blue Devils and the Tigers battle for the ball like Gods battling the Titans. No mercy. Number 12 from the Blue Devils is chasing down the ball with number 5 from Syracuse. The Tiger player gets the ball first but number 12 tries to foul her to stop the play by slamming into her from the back causing her to fall in the mud face first. Whistle. Foul. Yellow Card. Of course being home team, the crowd is furious. Booing the referee for what they believe in their understandable bias opinion was a wrong call.

Play by play goes by and it happens to be down to the wire in the 88th minute. Number 18 from the Blue Devils and Number 7 from Syracuse are fighting in the Blue Devils corner when Number 18 kicks it out causing it to be a corner kick for the Tigers. Number 7 from the Tigard's takes it to the corner for the kick as the rest of the players set up to receive it right outside the box. Number 7 boots it into the box where it looks like the keeper is about to grab it when Number 10 from Syracuse dives in as fast as a bullet with a header to the ball which spears by the keeper into the back of the net. Syracuse scores. 1-1 in the 88th minute.

Both teams line up again in the center of the field to set up the match. I'm sitting here in the stands just drying up as I'm anxious waiting to see what's going to happen. Whistle blows. The Blue Devils kick off with under 2 minutes left to fight for the W. This is it. Highly anticipated game coming to a close with most likely a tie to add to the record books for the Blue Devils. It's not what these ladies want. Getting a tie in a soccer is like getting a Silver medal in the Olympics. It doesn't mean anything. Everybody in the stands are on their fight with 89:15 on the score board. Ella takes the ball from number 7 and runs with it down field sliding through 2 defenders when she ends up in the box with the keeper. The keeper comes out away from the goal to meet with Ella. They crash into each in the box and Ella goes flying into the almost dry muddy grass. Whistle. Yellow Card on the keeper and the Tiger fans are not having one bit of it. This results to a penalty kick for Senior Number 17 Ella Stevens. 

All the players set up outside of the box with only Ella and the keeper eye to eye. With 89:47 on the clock in this regular ACC season match, Ella has one chance to make something happen. Either way I'm really proud of her and was happy to have been able to come to this match. The clouds are gone and the sun is fully emerged over the North Carolina sky. The whistle blows. Ella takes a few shuffles towards the ball trying to throw off the keeper and then punts it down range towards the net. The keeper makes the correct call by diving towards it and punching it out. I thought it was over there but with 89:57 on the clock, the ball goes flying towards Ella's forehead when she stops it, and bunts it from her forehead to her feet. She then does a spin move to get away from a Tiger player who managed to get up to her. Ella then drives it into the back of the net on the 90 minute mark. The crowd goes insane with what they just witnessed and cheers as loud as their heart desires. 2-1 Blue Devils win.

"ALRIGHT ELLA! YA!" As I cheer while losing my mind over what just happen. 

"BLLLLLLLUUUUUUEEEE DEVILS FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!!!" John screams at the top of his lungs as he sings while the pep band plays the fight song.  
The Blue Devils Women's Soccer team make their way to the center of the field as they hold hands and bow to the most loving crowd. They clap with the crowd and then form a huttle and cheer a team chant over the victory they just earned. The crowd makes their way down to the field to go see the players as so do I. I follow John down the stands onto the track where the players come off the field to meet and greet with their family, friends and inspired fans. 

"Hey there's my girl man, I'll see you later" As he instantly spots her and runs over to her to give her a kiss on a good game.

I look around at all the families that came out to watch the game even though it was raining for most of the match. It shows the type of dedication and community there is that lies here in Durham. This is something I was growing to love each and everyday about Duke. In an instant, everything slowed down and nobody else mattered. There she was. Ella Stevens walking on over to me with cleats in one hand and a water bottle in the other. Even after a full 90 minutes of running back and fourth, she still looked beautiful. 

"Hey stranger, looks like you made it out to the match after all, even with the crappy weather" She said with a smile.

"Of course! Wow you did amazing Ella. You're so freaking crazy with the ball. I didn't even realize how good you were. And you're team captain! You forgot to mention that part haha" As I gave her a hug not caring that she was mixed with water, mud and sweat. 

"Haha thanks! And I'm co captain but either way it's humbling and I was honored to take on the challenge when Coach Church told me at the end of last spring season that I would be but it's not about me, it's about the gals and that's what I love about being one of the captains" She said as she took a swig from her bottle.

"I totally get what you mean. I could tell you're in your comfort zone when you're out there leading the team. I'm proud of you. You look amazing by the way." I said while putting my hand on her shoulder.

"O my gosh no I don't, I look like crap! Haha!" Gesturing to her whole body.

"Impossible" I said with a smile.

She smiled back and there was a short pause when I decided to break it by building up the courage to ask her out.

"Hey so check it out, I know we just met, but is it cool if we go do something together sometime? I know you're really busy right now with soccer and all but if you ever have a day off or whatever" I look with a small smirky smile and hiding the fact that I'm really nervous.

"Haha sure why not Ryan. I usually go on runs by myself on Sundays but would you care to join me?"

"Ya sounds great, I need to go on a good run anyway. I've been going to gym. Some cardio would do good for me"

"Ok Ryan I'll see you tomorrow then. Meet me where we first met"

"Ok perfect will do" As I smile and walk off with a proud step in me.

**Author's Note:**

> This a short work of fiction, so far. I appreciate it if you read it till the end. Leave any constructive criticism if you wish. Thank you. If I have time, I'll add to it.


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